It has been a long established practice to use splints or casts to immobilize the legs of animals when they are traumatized and/or broken. In order to immobilize a leg it has been necessary to construct a shaped splint or cast for each leg to be treated. The splinting or casting of a leg in this way is time consuming and both limits the ability of an underlying bandage to breath and the ability of the doctor to view either the wound or the bandage.
These difficulties have been overcome in part by the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,472 wherein molded plastic splints, suitable for the front leg of a dog or cat, are disclosed. However, these splints all have receiving elements for the paw of the animal. While the paw receiving element does help maintain the splint in position, it requires that the splint be sized for the animal and thus a stock of multiple size splints must be maintained.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,143 teaches a splint for the rear leg of an animal such as a dog or cat which has an enlarged region of the splint for receiving the paw of the animal. This splint also has a bent and enlarged region shaped to receive the stifle joint of the animal. This configuration makes the sizing of the splint even more critical.
Thus, there is a need for a molded splint that can be maintained in position without the paw receiving element. There is also the need for a molded splint which is less disruptive with regards to the ability of the underlying bandage to breathe than other splints and will permit viewing of the bandage and/or wound. In the prior art, in order to view the wound it was necessary to provide a window in the splint or cast or, alternatively, the splint could be removed to check the condition.
Thus, there is a need for a splint which is easily adaptable to animals of various sizes, provides ventilation to the region under the splint, and allows viewing the areas under the splint.